Tension heightening up as GCC reinvigorates security pact and Larijani blasts US deployment as puppet show and political swindle

Tension is heightening up dramatically in the Gulf amid plans by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to reinvigorate their security agreements in anticipation of a military confrontation in the region and Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani criticised blasting the US deployment in the Gulf as a “puppet show” and a “political fraud.”

According to a Kuwaiti daily, the GCC countries are working on invigorating a security agreement in anticipation of any deterioration of the situation in the region in the wake of the recent Iran-US escalation.

“The heads of the security forces in the GCC are planning a meeting to coordinate their efforts to confront any emergency following the announcement that the US is deploying a missile shield in the Gulf and moving ships into the Gulf to protect allies against constant Iranian threats to undermine security in the region,” Al Jareeda reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed “well-informed” sources. “It is obvious that any declaration from Washington or Tehran on the situation of the region is taken seriously.”

The sources said that past coordination between security services in the Gulf countries has helped identify and tackle terrorist cells.

“These security services are able to deal competently with any groups that want to exploit the instability or chaos resulting from military confrontations,” the sources said. “Kuwait and the other Gulf countries have taken into consideration the reports published in US media about Washington’s request to deploy missiles against Iranian attacks in retaliation for a possible US strike on Iran.”

In Tehran, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that the US deployment was a puppet show and a political swindle.

“Iran’s strategy seeks unification among Muslim countries as well as Shiites and Sunnis. Regional countries must know that the US puppet show for security and protection of the region is nothing but a new political fraud and it wants to pave the way for its presence in the region at the expense of other countries,” Larijani was quoted as telling the parliament by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

“It seems strange that they [the Americans] are not aware that they are the region’s problem by sending more and more warfare to the region.”